


Bedtime

by miriad



Category: Popslash
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-04-05
Updated: 2004-04-05
Packaged: 2017-10-21 16:55:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/227473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miriad/pseuds/miriad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doesnt matter whose house it is, Joey always knows when he's home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bedtime

**Author's Note:**

  * For [newdaydawning](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=newdaydawning).



He hears singing when he walks through the front door. It's hard not to, as Chris' voice carries, especially in Justin's house. The white, bare walls echo sounds as though the house were empty, not just sparse. Joey smiles to himself and heads toward the sound, humming a random melody he heard on the radio. The lights are low, the house dim, Chris not bothering to waste electricity even thought Justin can certainly afford it. Old habits die hard but Joey can appreciate that. It makes sense to him too and he leaves them off as he climbs the stairs in the darkness.

A sliver of light cuts across the hallway floor, the music louder now, Chris' voice more clear on the second floor. It's an old lullaby, one that Joey's sung a million times for Bri but it's never sounded quite like this. It makes his heart ache, not in a bad way but in the way that reminds him that if he thought he couldn't love Chris more than he did right then, he was totally wrong.

He doesn't just walk into the bedroom- it's late and he doesn't want to startle anyone, especially not his kid. The room is Bri's nursery, the one that Justin painstakingly decorated on his own and presented to Joey like a present on Christmas. Bri is actually inside, hopefully sleeping but with her odd schedule lately, who the hell knows at this point. He peers through the crack in the door, looking to see what's the what before disturbing them and what he sees takes his breath away.

Chris stands in the center of the room, barefoot, holding a sleeping Briahna tight to his chest, her little face pressed against his shoulder. He's still singing as he turns himself in a small circle. It's the type of dancing that Joey remembers doing in junior high, that almost box step that everyone thought was slow dancing but really, they had no clue. Joey knows Chris can really dance, ballroom style and everything. He knows that Chris' grandma taught him when he was really little and he never forgot, that this just must be about the movement, not style. If it were about style, Chris would be in serious trouble.

But Joey watches him, listens to him, sees Bri curl her fingers into Chris' shirt, the thumb of her other hand deeply entrenched in her mouth. It's a picture, something that he wished he could capture forever but knows that no camera would do it the justice the moment deserves. He hates to see it end but he doesn't want to stand outside and watch forever.

He raps softly against the door frame, pushing the door open a bit further with the toe of his shoe. Chris stops moving, looking startled for a second before a grin stretches across his entire face.

"Hey there, stranger." Quiet and familiar, Joey can feel the love from where he stands.

"Hey there, yourself. Romancing my girl, I see?" Joey steps completely into the room now, sliding his jacket off, hanging it on one of the Winnie-the-Pooh hooks that JC found at some thrift store when they were on tour. He picks the Tigger hook without even looking, drawn to the bouncy folks in life more often than not. It certainly explains Chris.

"What can I say? The Kirkpatrick was just too much for her."

"The Kirkpatrick is too much for most people."

"Very true." Joey leans in and kisses Chris, short and sweet. He rubs Bri's back softly and kisses the top of her head. "She good for you tonight?"

"When isn't she?" Chris pulls back and rearranges Bri in his arms. "Am I putting her to bed or did you want some daddy-daughter time with the midget before we put her down?"

"I wanted time with a midget but not with her."

"Very funny, tall guy." Chris grabs the blanket off the edge of the changing table and drapes it around Bri's back. With gentle hands, he lays her down carefully in the crib and covers the rest of her. He brushes a few errant curls away from her face with his finger and Joey almost melts at the love that he sees pouring out of the other man. Chris turns back toward him and stops, frowning. "What? Something wrong?"

"Not at all, Kirkpatrick. Not at all." It makes Joey warm inside thinking about how much love his daughter has grown up with. She's surrounded by people who care for her, blood related or not and Joey thinks that makes her one of the luckiest kids he's ever heard of. He holds out a hand to Chris, who takes it, odd look still on his face. Joey pulls him towards the door, flicking the light switch off as he passes by it. The honey pot nightlight leaves the room in a soft golden glow and makes Chris' eyes sparkle. Joey feels everything start to pool in the lower portions of his body and he pulls Chris into him.

"Got plans, Fatone?"

"Maybe." Joey runs a hand under Chris' shirt and feels the soft skin of his lower back. Chris practically starts purring and Joey leans forward to nibble on his neck. He starts humming into the warm skin and begins moving in that wanna-be box step Chris had used before. Chris doesn't move, practically has to be pulled along, until Joey starts murmuring as he kisses. "Dance with me, baby?"

And Chris gets it now, figures it out, this flash of brilliance that Joey's decided to move on. He follows Joey's lead, has been doing it for years, and they make the step something more just by moving together. Chris takes Joey's face in his hands and kisses him, deep and long, the kiss he wanted when Joey first arrived.

They back out of the bedroom, making their way down the hall, turning and twisting to music that's now only in their heads. It stops being a dance and starts getting serious by the time they reach the third door down the hell and Chris pushes Joey into it, tongue darting from his mouth to Joey's, biting at his lips. Joey's hands snake down the back of Chris' pants, sliding around to the front, ghosting over his cock.

"Jesus, Fatone, I've been waiting for you all damn day. I don't think I can wait much longer."

"Inside?"

"Yeah." Chris twists the doorknob and they almost fall inside, Joey catching the door frame with one hand, holding on to Chris with the other. The regain balance but stumble through the door anyway, hindering the other's movement. Chris starts in on the buttons on Joey's shirt but Joe stops, his eyes wide.

"Chris?"

"Yeah?"

"Isn't this Justin's room?" Chris stops long enough to look around, then goes back to the buttons.

"Yeah."

"He'll be home tomorrow. I don't think he wants the house sitters-" Chris shuts him up with a kiss and pushes Joey back towards the bed. With a quick move, he pulls away, leaving Joey breathless in the center of the room. Chris bounds across the floor and pounces on the bed, bouncing twice before striking a pinup pose on the comforter.

"The infant could stand a few lessons on how things are supposed to be done. Get over here and take care of business, Joe, before I change my mind." Joey only thinks about it for a few more seconds before he follows Chris to the bed and flops down beside him. Chris is smiling, face happy and open, and Joey can't help but smile in return. He reaches out with one finger and gently runs it down Chris' cheek.

"I love you, you know," he tells Chris, serious face on for a second. Chris's smile doesn't waver but his eyes give him away.

"I know," Chris says, voice thick and low. "But why don't you come over here and show me just how much?" So Joey leans over and does just that. With lots of tongue.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the Joey Deserves Dick Too challenge in 2004.


End file.
